All through October, I’ll be posting reviews of the best of the best films in the horror genre released since October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. As an added bonus, I’ll be adding a secondary review that may be somewhat related to the main review or slightly missed the countdown by inches. Follow along the countdown every day in October. Feel free to agree, disagree, or better yet, give me your own picks for your favorite horror movies of the year. Happy Halloween!

#28 – PROJECT SILENCE (2023)
Released on July 12, 2024, and is available On Demand and digital download from CJ Entertainment!
Directed by Kim Tae-gon.
Written by Kim Tae-gon, Park Joo-suk, Kim Yong-hwa.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/vUBUXeT_YLI
When a dense fog rolls over South Korea, it causes a massive pileup in the middle of a bridge. Among the twisted metal and wounded passengers is a military vehicle transporting a top-secret government experiment called Project Silence—a group of genetically altered dogs meant to be used in the military, but scheduled to be euthanized as inferior product. When the dogs are freed, they begin to massacre those on the bridge. A small group including a government official and his daughter, a stoner tow truck driver, an elderly couple, a star golfer and her caddie and one of the scientists in charge of Project Silence attempt to beat all odds and survive the night against ferocious super-Rotweillers whose sole purpose is to destroy everything in their path.

PROJECT SILENCE is undeniably fun. Following a typical disaster movie format by trapping a bunch of different people in a single location and then upending the world around them, PROJECT SILENCE moves at a rapid pace from the beginning and never lets up. First it smashes you I. The face by putting you in the middle of the pile up to beat all pile up. Trucks overturn. Cars wipe out people who get out to inspect their cars. The whole thing is mayhem and director Kim Tae-gon places you smack dab in the midst of it.

But just when things begin to calm down and the cars are all toppled, the dogs are let loose, and the real fun begins. Yes, it is a wonky premise—dogs genetically altered by the government running wild and attacking civilians. But again, this film doesn’t let you breathe or think long enough to recognize this concept is so batshit. The prolonged dog attack scenes are some glorious carnage indeed.

One of the smart things PROJECT SILENCE does is keep the dogs obscured in the fog. Not only does this make things all the scarier as at any time, toothy horror could leap from the swirling mist. The fog also covers up any CGI glitches that might be more obvious if visibility were clear. Don’t get me wrong, the CG dogs are quite good, but the dog just makes them more real and menacing.

This being a South Korean film I think there are a few things that just don’t translate well. The humor is often way too goofy and felt out of synch with the horror around it. One of the characters, a stoner tow truck driver, is constantly quipping and being shown in goofy situations. Those comedic effects characters don’t really work in American disaster movies like Godzilla or San Andreas, and they don’t work in PROJECT SILENCE either. There is also a goofy scene where the golfer has to hit a goofball at the windshield of a bus full of snarling dogs that felt unnecessary and put in there just to justify having a pro golfer among the survivors and give her something golfy to do. Again, it’s unnecessary goofiness that distracts from the dire situation.

Otherwise, this is a strongly acted and cleverly directed film that never lets up. There is a subplot about public knowledge about private military projects and one about the experimentation on animals, but for the most part, PROJECT SILENCE is just a straight up and wildly ludicrous romp of a disaster film.

FROGMAN (2023)
Released on March 8, 2024, and is streaming on Screambox from Feral Child Films!
Directed by Anthony Cousins.
Written by Anthony Cousins, John Karsko.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/Jc31f4C2gUs
After capturing the elusive cryptid known as the Frogman on video as a child, documentary filmmaker Dallas (Nathan Tymoshuk), his cameraman Scotty (Benny Barrett), and actress Melissa (Sonya Boushek) return to the swampy riverbeds of Loveland, Ohio in order to prove that the Frogman is real.

Are the actors successfully acting like they aren’t acting?
For the most part, everyone is doing a good job of being natural and unscripted. The weakest of the bunch unfortunately being the star Nathan Tymoshuk who struggles with the scenes when heavy emotional lifting is required. His character Dallas is supposed to be overcome with an obsession to get to the truth, but he is also reeling from a recent breakup and a budding relationship with Melissa. That’s just too much this actor can carry and while it does round out the character, it overloads Dallas and makes him just feel like he’s all over the place. Had Dallas simply been driven to find the Frogman, and the relationship with Melissa been cut, I think the character would have been much more focused and likable.

Does the footage found seem authentic and untouched by additional production (which means there is no omniscient editor making multiple edits between cameras or an invisible orchestra providing music)?
There are some musical cheats which took me out of the immediacy of the film and some questionable editing between camera’s that was distracting. This is supposed to be an edited documentary, so since the footage was put together as an entertaining documentary in the world of the film, I’ll forgive FROGMAN for this transgression that would be a dealbreaker for most as I’m a stickler for authenticity in my found footage and musical cues and edits from multiple cameras take away from that concept.

Why don’t they just drop the camera and get the hell out of there?
Dallas is driven to find the Frogman, so that is the driving force to keep filming. Later, the camera is used as a light source in a tunnel, so the film does a good job of justifying why the camera keeps rolling.

Is there an up-nose BLAIR WITCH confessional or a REC-drag away from the camera?
There are a few drag aways and late in the game camera confessionals that felt old hat by now as the scenes have been spoofed, aped, and copied to death. I could have done without those.

Does anything actually happen? Is the lead in too long and the payoff too short?
After the fun opening where Dallas sees the Frogman as a kid, there is an awful lot of getting to know you time, before anything substantial happens. Sure, they try to pad the story out with Dallas’ relationship angst, but again, I felt this was distracting and unnecessary. There is a nice conspiracy vibe going on throughout that has a nice build from small to gargantuan by the end. And the final moments are quite strong, though the most shocking scene is torn straight from a far superior found footage film, The Taking of Deborah Logan. The ending, which leapfrogs from found footage to cinematically filmed footage is abrupt but offers up some nice perspective on the film.

Does the film add anything to the subgenre and is it worth watching?
While many tout FROGMAN as the best found footage film of the year, I feel it simply goes through the motions decently, which in the case of found footage films, is much better than average. Many of the best scenes have been done better in other films. It does offer up a unique monster and lore around it. I hear a sequel is in the works, so I hope it takes the series in new directions.

FROGMAN is a decent little film that does offer up a frantic ending with some solid scares. The ending kind of soured me on the film, as it doesn’t paint the lead in a good light. And since we are supposed to be rooting for him to survive against this monster, it made me wish the monster got him instead.

The Best in Horror Countdown 2023-2024
#31 – HERE FOR BLOOD (DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS)
#30 – THANKSGIVING (THE SACRIFICE GAME)
#29 – MILK & SERIAL (LOWLIFES)
#28 – PROJECT SILENCE (FROGMAN)